The invention relates generally to touch screen displays, and more particularly to methods for calibration of touch screens or touch screen displays.
Touch screens or touch screen displays, including all types of devices that can be operated by individuals contacting touch-sensitive screens located on the device, are often utilized as controls for the operation of various types of equipment and/or as displays for information from the equipment. These screens are connected to the various pieces of equipment and then calibrated in order to provide the appropriate display to in the operator for the efficient and effective use of the screen to control the equipment and view the operating parameters of the equipment.
When connected to the equipment, in order to calibrate the touch screen during the start-up of the equipment and/or the touch screen, initially an operator must often connect a separate, secondary device, such as a mouse or keyboard to the device and/or screen in order to run the appropriate calibration program necessary to calibrate the touch screen for proper operation of the equipment. Once calibrated, the secondary device can be disconnected and the touch screen can be utilized to operate the equipment and/or view the operating parameters for the equipment.
In certain situations, for example in medical settings where the equipment is connected to a patient and the touch screen is required to operate the equipment and view the vital statistics of the patient as determined or measured by the equipment, when the touch screen is initially connected, i.e., when the patient is first connected to the equipment or when the screen is replaced due to damage or for some other reason, it is desired to have the touch screen up and running as quickly as possible. However, the process of locating the appropriate secondary device, connecting the secondary device to the touch screen or equipment, and then running the appropriate calibration program to configure the touch screen, which can require a restart of the touch screen and equipment to allow the calibration to become effective, can be time consuming in these types of situations.
In addition, in many situations it is required to stop or pause the normal operation of the touch screen device in order to enable the touch screen device to be calibrated. This can create issues in that when normal operation is ceased or paused, the monitoring function of the touch screen device is stopped, such that no information is being delivered to the individual about the item being monitored.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved method or procedure of calibrating the touch screen either by itself or when connected to the equipment during an initial start-up of the touch screen in order to conduct a calibration of the touch screen for use in controlling the operation of and displaying the measurements of the equipment without the need for attachment of secondary devices to the touch screen or the equipment, without any restart of the touch screen and/or equipment, and optionally during the normal operation of the touch screen device, without shutting down the normal and ongoing functions of the touch screen device